Would I be able to get into the summer session with around a 3.4 GPA?
Yes. Apply undecided and by November 30. My daughter got into summer with a 3.5. A 3.4 is borderline so it could go either way, but my guess is DUS and by November 30 and you should be ok. Especially if you have good test scores.
Would it be better to apply just for the summer,along with undecided to get into main? Do you know if that would increase my chances?
When you apply for Fall with the summer option checked, they will first evaluate you for Fall. If they can’t offer you admission to Fall, they will then evaluate your application for summer. If they can’t offer you summer, they will offer you a branch campus IF you had a campus backup selected. So, it doesn’t hurt you whatsoever to apply for fall. If you apply directly to summer, you may hear back faster on your application, but it denies you the chance to get into UP campus.
How high on the sat do they expect us to compensate for a 3.3 GPA?
Our daughter had a 3.5 but a 29 ACT. She was admitted for summer 2015. Her GPA was just at the bottom 50% but her test scores were at the top. If one of your scores is out of the middle 50%, then your other score SHOULD be in the higher end of the middle 50% in order to compensate and still get into UP. If BOTH of your scores are in the low middle 50%, your likelihood of getting a commonwealth campus greatly improves.
I still haven’t gotten my standardized test scores yet, so I don’t know exactly where I stand, but I do plan to take the SAT one more time in August,with the essay because the other was without. I also hope to take the ACT one time around September or so.
I just recieved my first round of SAT scores today, I recieved a 780 without the optional essay in this past May, and I plan to retake it in August with the optional essay,if I get up to a 1200 with a 3.37 gpa,will I get into summer at UP?
780 EBR or total ?
No. The 780 was my first score without the essay, I am taking it in August with the essay and I was saying what if I boosted my SAT up to a 1200 with a 3.37 GPA, could I get into UP summer?
No.
If 780 is your total score, your best, most optimistic bet is that through daily, disciplined hard work you’ll get to 1000 or so (not common but it happens though focused work).
That’s branch campus at best, because you are in the ‘black’ bubble zone (on the bubble chart).
You need to start looking at test optional colleges as well as colleges where 3.2/950 is typical.
That means Keystone, Lycoming, Lebanon Valley, PASSHE, St Bonaventure, Siena, Washington and Jefferson, Pitt Johnstown. Reaches could include Elizabethtown, Goucher, Marist, Duquesne, Ohio Wesleyan,
plus PSU Altoona/ Erie (DUS/summer). Penn State branch campus are reaches for now. University Park is totally out of reach.
I know someone who got in Brandywine with around the same grades I think,but didn’t take the SAT or ACT,they are graduating in December. So how can they affect my chances of getting into the university at all by taking them. Also,780 was my first of two SATs that I will be taking before applying, I am confident that I will reach a 1000 at the minimum when I take it again in August.
Test scores are not optional.
Your classmate who got into Brandywine took the sat and probably scored sub-1000 so didn’t publicize it. Standardized testing is required for all PSU applications. Also, I have no doubt you could get into Brandywine, if that’s your goal you’re okay, as well as Greater Allegheny or Dubois.
If you work hard I’m sure you can reach 1000. It would qualify you for the 2+2 and if you apply directly to Altoona, Harrisburg, or Erie, you’d likely get a spot there even in the Fall. After two years you move to UP to complete your degree.
Do any of you know how expensive it is to take two classes in the summer at Brandywine? I am hoping to get a head start,so I can possibly change my campus early to UP.
@Andrew2018 As I’ve told you before, that will not work. You will not be able to get to UP before the 2 years is up UNLESS they don’t offer any classes you need at Brandywine. My son is at PSU Altoona and IS going to UP a year early next year but only because Altoona doesn’t have the classes for his major. They have been very clear with him that if he gets to UP and immediately changes his major - they will ship him right back to Altoona.
@jlhpsu I was not asking about UP, I was asking about Brandywine. As I mentioned in my previous comment, I said SO I COULD get a head start at possibly changing campuses early to UP.
But you can’t “change campuses early”. You can accumulate more credits and starting in the summer will give you a head start, but you’ll still change campuses after two years at Brandywine, unless Brandywine doesn’t offer the pre-reqs for your major, and your major HAS TO be offered at UP only (like turf management or something).
Have you started preparing, reading every day?
Yes, I saw what you said @Andrew2018. And you’ve been very clear in your previous posts about your hope to get to UP early, so I was pointing out that you can’t go up early. You just can’t. Unless you have an extenuating circumstance with classes not available and that’s a rare occasion with only a few majors. That’s it. So when you say ‘possibly changing campuses early to UP’, people will chime in and say it’s not possible so that you don’t give others the idea that it’s a scenario worth investigating. It is almost impossible to transfer campuses early.